Polynices Crawford
Polynices Crawford [he/him] is a 19-year-old demon who works as a library assistant at Ever After High. He also holds a job as an entry-level employee in Inferno, since this is the 21st century and he needs to make a living in a capitalist world, even while dead. Once an ordinary human with no destiny, Nick found himself in the Seventh Circle of Hell after his death, and eventually worked his way into becoming a deal demon. In addition to all this, he eventually gets promoted during Branches, Birches and Junipers to taking the role of the Devil in the Juniper Tree. Character Personality Polynices acts like he's suave, calm and collected. Unfortunately, he's not. Basically, Polynices is a high-strung dork who's prone to superfluous speech. There's often never a time when he's not talking, and when he's silent – look out, since he's probably contemplating something. A huge literature nerd, Polynices likes to drop big words and complex vocabulary almost everywhere. He's like a walking SAT Reading question. Like, that terrible. Aside from his ostentatious diction, literature references are frequent in Polynices' speech. Classical references are probably the biggest victim, with the one exception being any Sophocles' plays because Polynices was never really fond of his namesake. Outside of Greek and Roman literature, Polynices has a fondness for 19th century and 20th century novels and poetry. If you mentioned a mildly influential book to him, Polynices is likely to known it, and have read it, and will probably end up going on an excited ramble about the book. He's a huge dork, basically. Despite the ever-growing pile of books he reads, Polynices is clueless about the world. Book-smart, but hardly people-smart or street-smart, Polynices is, at his core, innocent. He lives in a world dictated by his books, and hasn't pulled his head out of them enough to assess and live in the real world. (Not that he wants to live in the real world, mind you, since he hated reality to the point where he brought himself out of it.) Selectively forgetful, Polynices only cares to remember the things he likes and forget the things he wouldn't mind sacrificing to hell. All the little details in Thomas Hardy and George Elliot novel? All the nuances of WH Auden's poetry? Every word, every groove of idk some pretentious classic here? Yes, yes, yes. His own birthday? His cellphone number? No. There's one exception, and that is Polynices can never move on from his past, which is what he calls "the incident". He's forever tied down by what he regards as "his greatest mistakes" and doubts he can ever get over that. Because of that, Polynices is self-conscious. He tries to disguise that with a false air of self-confidence. Although he tries to "fake it until he makes it", Polynices really really doubts that he'll ever make it. What is this "it"? Overcoming his past, gaining a sense of purpose in life, and maybe even a little bit of self-love. A little bit arrogant, Polynices has a very classist view of the world. Coming from an upper-middle class family, Polynices preaches how he was never handed anything on a silver platter, being a non-legacy and not wealthy. However, despite those factors, he's still in a privileged state and has a tendency to frown at others he sees as lesser. Overall, Polynices is a flamboyant young demon stuck in the past, who tries to get past that by being sympathetic and empathetic to the people he meets in the present. Appearance Although physically he's 17, and will remain physically 17 forever, Polynices is often mistaken for a 15-year-old, and sometimes even younger. With a youthful face, boyish hair and his small figure, Polynices looks very much like an overgrown child. Often, the young demon is surrounded by a light green glow of light. It's very faint, hardly noticeable, but it essentially serves as an aura to define him as different from a typical human being. He is also seen floating, rather than walking on the Earth normally. Polynices is pale, to the extent in which he can't take selfies with the flash. Disliking sports and the outdoors, he's not one to sport a tan. He is also dotted with lots of freckles. He has brown hair - usually straw-coloured at the tips and more dirty near the roots, which he describes as "mousey". His eyes are a pale green. Appearance-wise, one of Polynices' greatest regrets is not being able to develop physically, to have his body be anything other than 17. It's something that makes him uncomfortable, as he always envisioned himself finally being able to get out of his embarrassing teenage phase, finally get a more attractive face, finally be taller (and not have his little sister tower over him), and finally be comfortable with how he looks and acts. Unfortunately, Polynices will forever lean on the edge between adulthood and his awkward teenage years, during the time when he feels most uncomely. As a result, he will tend to joke about how "handsome" and even how "hot" he looks, even though he will most likely not agree with his own sentiments, ever. Fairytale: The Juniper Tree How It Goes go to Icarus Juniper and Mark Juniper I'm not rewriting this How Does Polynices Come Into This? Backstory At EAH: Mark Juniper has the ability to summon devils through pure emotions alone, a skill due to being Marlinchen. Polynices Crawford happened to be the deal demon summoned at a particular stressful moment, and over the course of Branches, Birches and Junipers latched onto Mark as an older brother figures. Eventually, the events in Branches play out, and Nick goes to higher-ups to debate the possibility of taking a minor role in the story that hasn't been filled out: that of the Devil. He wins his case, and is able to stay at Ever After High. A job as a librarian in Ever After High is secured for him, and for the first time in his life, Nick feels like he's able to contribute and do something with his life. Opinion on Destiny Nick doesn't think much of it - he's just glad to be part of the Junipers and their tale. Parallels The Devil of the Juniper Tree is only present in one line, and the job of him is to plant the thought of 'murder' into the stepmother's mind. Because of this, it's difficult to draw parallels to that specific devil, but here's what I got: *It's said that in Germanic fairytales, the "devils" and "demons" referred to are not the ones from Christian mythology, but a Christianised take on the Old Gods. **Because of this, Polynices is much more down-to-earth and lacks celestiality. Relationships Family Polynices was never really close to his parents, to the extent of feeling like he could never go to them for any issues he had. However, he was close to his sister Antigone. Nick will cite his greatest regret in life as making his sister fret over his death, and hopes that they will one day reconcile. Through demonhood, he's considered visiting his sister and telling her, but has not had the guts to get around to it, fearing her reaction: would she be pissed that her darling elder brother never bothered dropping by to reassure her? Would she be over his death, and would talking to her bring up bad memories? The Junipers Mark Juniper: Mark was one of the overemotional teenagers that Polynices often makes deal with. Nick treats Mark like a child, often calling him "kid", and saying parental things like "be careful", "don't do drugs", and "eat your vegetables". They get along well in a brotherly fashion (or should I say, a brother-in-law fashion?) Now that the Branches arch is over, Nick doesn't really hang out with Mark as often. The two only really run into each other at the library at this point. Icarus Juniper: Icarus is aware and irritated by Nick's existence. Polynices is too eager and loud, which makes him hard to get along well with Icarus, but the two do trade commentary on poetry & other written works. Friends Since Polynices Crawford is a faculty member, he doesn't really make friends with students. However, there are a few that he is on decent terms with. Open for Friends or Acquaintances Other *On awkward terms with Lea die Birke. If not for incidents in Branches, they would have gotten along interests-wise. *Other Demons generally think of Polynices of a well-meaning, but a bit of a try-hard demon. Outfits Given the fact that Nick is a secondary character, I would not be expecting much art of Nick. His theme colours are green and yellow, and Nick aims to dress in a "proper, educated" manner. Gallery The only picture of polynices that exists.png|the very first picture of dis nerd Polynices cutoff.png|old picture Nicforzee.png|by Tay! 0-eus-d2-a872d1268289a5cc0032d01de6aebc46.jpg|polynices doodle (ft his sister) Some crawford kiddos.png|sad kiddos Frowny crawford sibs.PNG|frowny sibs Gomens nick and gabe.png|In a Good Omens AU, Nick would probably be Beelzebub. Here's a scene redraw, with Gabriel Fanfarinet as archangel Gabriel. Polynices art.jpg|updated art Trivia *The name Polynices comes from a figure in Greek tragedy. "Polynices" a prince of Thebes, brother to Antigone. When their father Oedipus died, Polynices and his brother Eteocles argued over the throne, and Eteocles slew Polynices. Antigone wanted to bury her brother's body but could not do so under the law of Thebes. **This parallels the Juniper Tree. Two relatives are stuck in a fight for an inheritance, so the elder kills the younger. A sister is heartbroken, and wanting her brother's soul to rest, she seeks to bury him. **Anyway, Nick died pretty young and his sister (named Antigone) had to deal with that. **Their parents really did not think their names through. *Crawford is a British surname meaning "Crow ford" in Old English. This is relevant because he's English and the name is related to birds. *Polynices was initially designed to be a parody of popular humanisations of non-human characters like Wheatley, Bill Cipher and Cecil (WTNV): dapper-dressing, skinny, blond white guys. Further Reading *You can find his Pinterest board here. *Features heavily in Branches, Birches and Junipers Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Zena's Secondary Characters Category:Faculty Category:The Juniper Tree Category:Demons Category:Deceased Category:English